Arrangements for Trump-Putin Meeting Shelved Days Following Hungarian Capital Talks Proposed
There are "no arrangements" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has announced.
Recently Trump indicated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Hungary's capital within two weeks to discuss the ongoing hostilities.
A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House clarified the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was no longer "needed".
The White House withheld further information on why the talks had been put on hold.
Previous Developments
The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit over the phone with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.
Some reports suggested his talks with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders claiming the president had pressured him to cede extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Moscow.
However, on Monday Trump embraced a truce plan supported by Ukraine and European leaders to halt the hostilities on the present positions.
"Freeze the lines in its current state," he remarked.
Moscow has frequently resisted against freezing the present battle positions.
The Russian government was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov commented on this week, suggesting that pausing conflict would merely represent a short-term truce.
Political Perspectives
The "underlying reasons" of the conflict needed to be addressed, Lavrov stated, using Moscow's terminology for a series of maximalist demands that include the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its European partners.
Zelensky commented talks regarding the front line were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "doing everything" to prevent dialogue.
He further commented the sole subject that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.
Military Considerations
The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with Trump recently came ahead of reports that the US was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target inside Russia.
Zelensky asserted it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the missiles had turned out to be a "strong investment" in international relations", he remarked.